Jack Among the Indians; Or, A Boy''s Summer on the Buffalo Plains

  CHAPTER XXIII.

  THE WOUNDING OF FOX EYE.

  The days passed pleasantly and quickly. Everybody in the camp was busy,every one was happy. On the drying scaffolds among the lodges, hung thewide sheets of bright red meat and of white back fat, which slowlyturned brown in the dry wind and under the burning sun. And as thisdried meat was removed and packed away, other fresh meat took its place,to be in turn removed. All day long women were busy over hides stretchedout upon the ground, removing the flesh and fat and hair, and preparingthem for lodge-skins. Then presently, new lodges, fresh and white underthe sunlight, began to take the place of those that age and use hadturned gray and brown. The dogs, which a few weeks before had beengaunt, lean and hungry looking, were now fat and sleek. They no longerspent their time on the prairie hunting little birds and groundsquirrels, but gorged with fresh buffalo meat, lay about in the sun andslept, except when disturbed by malicious children who enjoyed creepingup to an unsuspecting or sleeping animal, and beating it with a greatstick.

  From time to time the camp moved a little way. Buffalo were plentyeverywhere. Many were killed and their flesh and skins brought into thecamp. One night after a chase, as Jack and Joe were walking aboutthrough the camp, a man and a little boy rode up to a lodge close tothem. The man's horse was loaded with meat, but on that ridden by theboy, there was only a small pack, wrapped up in the hide of a calf. Awoman took the ropes of both horses, but the man, instead of going intohis lodge, turned about and called out a short speech in a loud voice.Joe pulled Jack's arm and said, "Let's stop and watch; that's Boss RibsHunter. His boy has just killed a calf. It is the first time the littlefellow ever hunted, and his father is giving away a horse."

  "How do you mean, Joe," said Jack.

  "Why, you see," said Joe, "the boy has killed a calf and as he's only alittle fellow, it's a pretty big thing for him, and his father wants toshow how glad he is by making a present, so he called out and told LastCoyote to come and see what his boy had done. Last Coyote is old andpoor. He hasn't any relations and I don't believe he's even got a horse.It is a pretty brave thing of Boss Ribs Hunter to do, to give him ahorse, because he knows that he never can expect Last Coyote to give himone. Sometimes you know, a man will give away a horse to a rich person,and then before very long, this rich person will feel that he's eithergot to give a horse back again, or some other good present. But whenanybody gives a present to a poor man, it shows that he has a strongheart." While he was saying this, an old man in a very much worn robehad come out of a lodge not far off, and had walked up to Boss RibsHunter. He spoke to the man, pointing first to his little boy and thento the horse with the small pack of meat on it, and presently, without aword, the old man clambered onto the horse's back, and rode away throughthe camp singing as he went.

  "Now," said Joe, "you'll see that old man will ride all around throughthe camp, and will tell everybody what that little boy has done, andthat Boss Ribs Hunter gave him this horse because he came to see whatthe boy had done. In that way, everybody in the camp will come to knowthat the boy has done well, and that Boss Ribs Hunter has a good heart."

  A few days after this, the young men, who had been sent out to look forbuffalo, reported that they had moved, and that there were few now onthe prairie. The chiefs, therefore, gave orders that the camp should bemoved north to Milk River, in the hope that on that stream buffalo wouldbe found. The morning when the camp moved, Hugh and Fox Eye, with Jackand Joe, rode away early ahead of the camp and a little to one side ofthe line of march, to examine the country.

  The sun had but just risen when they started, and the air was cool anddelightful. The grass of the prairie, which had long before turnedyellow, was covered with a white frost, and the insects, which allthrough the summer had been enjoying life, were stiff with the cold andunable to move. Near a great butte, on the vertical sides of which couldbe seen the mud homes of many cliff swallows, Jack was surprised to seea great number of these birds on the ground, and when he came to theplace and they had flown away, he could see that they had been feedingon some very small beetles, with which the ground was fairly strewn.From a shelf on the side of this butte, as they were passing along, agreat lanner falcon swooped down to the prairie close before them, androse again with a squeaking ground squirrel in his talons, and when itreturned to the shelf, was saluted by the whistling cries of twofull-grown young, perched there. The time for singing birds had passed,and already the different broods of the little prairie sparrows and thewhite-winged black birds, were beginning to get together in smallflocks. But the meadow-larks, more cheery than their fellows, stillwhistled with mellow call from sage brush and boulder on either hand.Now and then a coyote barked at the riders from the top of a near-byhill, and perhaps a jack-rabbit sprang from the grass and galloped off,or a badger waddled slowly to one side and disappeared in his hole. Hughand Fox Eye rode side by side ahead, and the two boys followed.

  As the men rode along, they talked, and this was the report of theirconversation, which Hugh afterward gave to Jack. "My friend," said FoxEye, "I have something to tell you. If you were like other white men Ishould not say it to you, but you are like our own people and I can tellyou what is in my mind. This morning I do not feel well, I am afraid. Ithink something is going to happen; something bad. This is why I thinkso. Last night my dream came to me while I was asleep, and spoke to mesaying, 'My friend, this day you will be in great danger. It may be thatyou will lose your body. Look out carefully then, and try to see thatnothing bad happens; for I tell you that danger is close to you,although I cannot see what it is, nor how it will come.' After my dreamhad spoken thus, I awoke and the woman was just beginning to build thefire. Ever since then I have thought of this. It troubles me. Thismorning I could not eat. I do not know what this means, but I know thatsomething bad is likely to happen."

  "Well," said Hugh, "I think that you ought to do just what your dreamtells you. You must look out carefully, do not go far away, nor into anyplace where enemies may be hidden. Do not, to-day, run your horse evenif they should chase buffalo; it might be that your horse would stepinto a hole and throw you and hurt you, or a cow might catch you andkill you. Travel quietly wherever you go, and if the day passes withoutanything happening, then you may feel that by listening to the words ofyour dream, you have escaped this danger."

  "I take your words," said Fox Eye, "you speak well. But I should like toknow what this danger is, that is likely to come. It does not seem as ifit could be any of the things that you speak of. The prairie is bare ofbuffalo; they will not chase them. Our young men have travelled far inthese days, and no signs of enemies have been seen."

  "Well," said Hugh, "you can't tell. Often danger comes from the placesthat seem least likely, and of course, if enemies should let us knowthey were coming, before they made the attack, there would not be muchdanger from them."

  "It is true, it is true;" said Fox Eye.

  For some hours they travelled on and at length climbed a high butte,from which, Fox Eye had told them, that the Milk River could be seen. Hewas right. Far away to the northward was the winding green line wherethe sluggish stream flowed, showing, now and then, a larger patch ofgreen, which marked the growth of a bunch of willows or other shrubs.From this point, too, they could see that there were here, some buffalo;not many, but near them a few scattering bulls, while toward the riverthe black dots were thicker on the prairie. Looking back over thecountry they had traversed, they could see, miles away, the dark windingline, which showed where the camp was coming. After a time they startedon, and as the sun began to fall toward the west, they saw from time totime, quite near them, a few bulls. One of these was lying on a brokenhillside not far from the course they were to follow, and as theyapproached it, Fox Eye said to Hugh, "I think I will go and kill thatbull. My lodge has no fresh meat and I can kill this animal withoutgoing far. You go on, and I will kill it and bring some of the meat, andsoon overtake you." Presently they passed out of sight of the distantbull, and soon Fox Eye left them, and ro
de off toward it, while theothers went on their way. After a little they heard a distant report ofthe gun, and Hugh, turning to Jack, said, "Well, I guess the old man gothim." Before they had gone very far, however, they heard very faintly,two reports, almost together, and then a third, and Hugh, wheeling hishorse, shouted, "Come on, boys, Fox Eye has been attacked;" and in amoment all three were riding as hard as they could, back toward wherethe bull had been seen. The distance was not great, but to Jack and Joeit seemed as if their horses had never gone so slowly. In a very fewminutes, however, they crossed a ridge from which they could see thebull lying on the hillside, and near it, another large animal, butnothing was seen of Fox Eye. A very few minutes more brought them closeto the bull, and then they could see that the other animal was Fox Eye'shorse lying dead, and a moment later Fox Eye, himself, raised his headfrom behind the bull's body. As they stopped by him, he spoke to Hughand said, "You see that the words of my dream came true, friend;" and ashe struggled to his feet, they saw that he was wounded in the leg, andwas bleeding badly.

  Hugh quickly dismounted and looked at the wound, which had been made bya big trade ball that had passed through the fleshy part of the thigh,fortunately without breaking the bone or cutting any important bloodvessel.

  "Well," said Hugh, "we must fix you up, friend, you are bleeding badly."

  "Yes," said Fox Eye, "I was surprised. I did not listen to the wordsspoken to me in sleep, and have acted foolishly, but first ride to thetop of the hill and see where these enemies have gone, I saw three ofthem and there may be more."

  "That's a pretty good idea," said Hugh, "scatter out, boys, and let's goup to the top of the hill. Joe, you take Fox Eye's gun and go to theNorth; son, you go to the South, and I'll go up in the middle; I guessthose fellows saw us coming in plenty of time and have skinned out."

  Well spread out, the three rode to the top of the hill and lookedcarefully over. There, a long way off, galloping over the prairie ashard as they could to the East, were seen three horsemen. They were toofar off to be overtaken, and a little search along the hillside showedthat there were no more enemies there.

  They returned to Fox Eye, and as well as they could, with handkerchiefsand with pieces torn from their shirts, they bandaged his wounds. Hishorse was dead, and Joe put its saddle on the animal he had been riding,and prepared to go forward on foot.

  "I HEARD TWO SHOTS AND FELT THAT I WAS HURT."--_Page244_]

  "This is how it happened," said Fox Eye, when Hugh asked him to tell thestory of the attack. "I had left my horse behind and crept up close tothe bull, and when I shot, it didn't get up; it just died there. Then Iwent back for my beast and bringing it up to the bull, I began to cutout some meat. I was busy, and I think didn't keep a good look-out,though every moment or two, as I thought, I looked about me, and thenthe first thing I knew I heard two shots and felt that I was hurt, andsaw my horse fall. They had shot him for fear that I should run away. AsI fell, I saw the three men running down to strike me, and I raisedmyself on one elbow, and when they were pretty near, I fired, and thefirst man fell. I think the others thought I had a double-barrel gun,for they separated and ran back and hid. I was charging my gun asquickly as I could, but it took me a long time to get the ball down,then I quickly crept in between the legs of the bull and used its bodyfor a breastwork. When I looked again, I saw that the man I had shothad disappeared. I think he was only wounded.

  "I wondered whether you would hear the shots and come back, and Iwondered whether the three men would charge on me again. I could seetheir heads every little while, as they looked over the hill and Ithought that they would charge; but pretty soon they started up theridge, two of them helping the man that was hurt, and then theydisappeared, and soon I heard you coming."

  While Fox Eye had been talking, the other three had cut out thebuffalo's tongue and taken the meat from his hump, and had put it onHugh's horse. Hugh and Jack went back up the hill to the point where theman shot by Fox Eye had fallen. There they found blood on the grass anda trail of blood leading down a little sag to a ravine, where the manhad crossed. Here there was more blood and moccasin tracks in the sand,which led up the hill. They returned to Fox Eye, who was then helpedinto the saddle, and Hugh and Jack mounted, and with Joe on foot, thefour started down the hill. Before they had gone very far, they came insight of the moving column, which by this time had quite overtaken them.

  When they had come close enough to the camp for the people to get anidea of what had happened, a number of men rode out to meet them, and ina moment, as it seemed, the news had spread through the marching column,that enemies had been seen, and one of the people wounded. The four wereat once surrounded by men, anxious for the news, and the shrieks andcries of women who did not know how great the misfortune might havebeen, resounded in their ears. Thirty or forty soldiers rode away hotly,to visit the scene of the encounter, and if possible to overtake theenemies. Fox Eye was put on a travois and the village started on againand camped that night on Milk River.

  The camp on Milk River was a pleasant one, though there was but littlewood for the fires; a few small box-elder trees and a good deal ofwillow brush furnished the only fuel. The stream rippled pleasantly overthe rocks which formed its bed, and Hugh told Jack that this was almostthe only place on the course of the stream, away from the mountains,where the bottom was hard.

  The next day the camp remained here, and young men scouted north of theriver, looking for buffalo. A few were seen, but not enough to justify ageneral hunt, and Hugh expressed the opinion, that within a day or twothe camp would move south to one of the streams flowing into the MariasRiver.

  A number of the young men, who had ridden away the night before inpursuit of the enemy, had not yet returned, and Jack asked Hugh, duringthe morning, whether he thought that they would overtake the Indians whohad attacked Fox Eye.

  "No," said Hugh, "I don't reckon they will. Those Indians had a bigstart, and likely they saw the camp coming and knew that they would bepursued, and have ridden clean out of the country. Of course it might besuch a thing as the man that Fox Eye wounded would die, and the othertwo might hide his body somewhere, but I don't believe that these youngmen that have followed them, will see anything at all of the Indians."

  "I would like to have gone off with those fellows," said Jack.

  "Yes," said Hugh, "I knew you wanted to, but there would have been nosense in doing it; you'd just have had a long, hard ride, and maybebroken down your horse, all for nothing. I have seen young men start offlike that more than fifty times I bet, and they hardly ever come backwith anything to show for the trouble they've had."

  Toward the middle of the day, the soldiers who had started off theafternoon before, began to come into the camp, stringing along one afteranother, on tired, stumbling ponies. They reported that nothing had beenseen of the enemy, although they had ridden hard in the direction theyhad taken, following the trail until after dark.

  "There," said Hugh to Jack, "what did I tell you? You see they've justhad a wild goose chase, and haven't done anything at all. Now I'll tellyou what we'll do. You and Joe and me'll go out this afternoon, justbefore sundown, and you and Joe take your bows and arrows, and we'll seeif we can't kill a bull."

  Some time before this, Hugh had traded with one of the young men of thecamp, for a number of arrows, and Jack had been practicing with theAssinaboine's bow and with these new arrows for some time, so that hewas now a pretty fair shot. When he had first obtained the bow, Joe hadmade him some blunt-headed arrows, and the two boys, going out on theprairie near the camp, had practised shooting until Jack was fairlyskillful, although, of course, he could not approach Joe inmarksmanship. His efforts to learn how to shoot had been a source ofgreat delight to the small boys of the camp, who enjoyed following himabout, laughing at his bad shooting, and then exhibiting to him theirown skill.

  The accuracy with which these little shavers could use the bow was aconstant source of astonishment to Jack. They would watch him shoot athis mark a few times, ha
iling each miss with derisive yells, and thensome naked little fellow, not half his height, would rush up to him,gesticulating and pointing, and then, seemingly without effort or aim,would plant three or four arrows in quick succession, in the very markthat Jack had been missing.

  At first their comments and their company greatly embarrassed anddisconcerted Jack, but he soon became accustomed to both, and ratherenjoyed the society of the noisy little throng.

  Jack had also practised riding bareback, both on Pawnee and his newhorse, and had reached a point where, clad in moccasins and leggings, hecould gallop for half a day without feeling undue fatigue. Hugh hadadvised him to begin on one of the buffalo running saddles, used by someof the Indians; a square cushion of buckskin, stuffed with buffalo orantelope hair, but without stirrups. Beginning with this, he hadgradually passed on to riding the naked horse, and now had a firm gripwith knee and calf, on the smooth sides of his mount.

  Toward evening that day, the three started out and galloped swiftly upthe river, gradually turning into the low hills on its south side. Theyhad gone only three or four miles, when Hugh held up his hand andbending low in the saddle, called their attention to a buffalo, whoseback was just visible over a near ridge. "Now, boys," he said, "we canget up within fifty or seventy-five yards of that fellow, and then youcan try him. As soon as the bull starts, son, you want to put the quirton your horse and get up to him as quickly as you can, then shoot at himjust as you would if you were using a rifle, except that you want toride up nearly to his shoulders, before shooting. Let the arrow go insquare between the ribs and not slant forward. When you are too farbehind, the arrow is likely to strike a rib and just stick in his hide.I expect Jack will get the first shot," he added, turning to Joe,"because he's got the best horse, but I don't feel noways certain thathe'll kill, and you must do your best to get the buffalo, if he don't."

  They trotted briskly up to the top of the ridge, and were on the crestand within thirty yards of the game, before it saw them; then it dashedoff, but in a very short time, Jack was close to the animal's side, anddrawing the arrow to its head, he let fly. It was the first time he hadshot from a galloping horse, and he did not allow for the motion, sothat to his horror and shame, he missed the buffalo clean, the arrowstriking deep into the ground under its belly. As the bow twanged, hishorse made a lurch to the right and he lost his balance, and would havefallen off if he had not caught the mane, and thus recovered himself.Joe, on his slower horse, was bounding along close behind the buffalo,but gaining on it very slowly, and Jack turning again, passed Joe andonce more drew up beside the bull. This time his luck was better, thearrow struck the beast just behind the foreleg and low down. When thehorse turned, Jack was ready for him and did not lose his seat, but theprick of the arrow angered the buffalo, which turned sharply and wouldhave caught his horse, if it had not sheered off just as it did. Thislittle delay enabled Joe to come up, and he planted an arrow in thebuffalo's side close to Jack's. The animal charged Joe as he had Jack,but the horse easily avoided him. But now the bull was badly wounded andangry, and stopped to fight. Hugh had come up, and the three sat ontheir horses, fifteen or twenty yards away from the great beast, whichwith head down and tail stuck stiffly up in the air, glared furiously atthem from under the heavy mat of brown hair, which overshadowed itslittle eyes. Now and then it shook its head angrily, and its long beardswept the prairie grass; but blood was flowing from its mouth andnostrils, and both Hugh and Joe said it would soon fall. By this timeJack had seen plenty of buffalo, but as he sat there and looked at thisenormous beast, it seemed to him that he had never beheld any creatureso terrifying.

  The buffalo stood there for a few moments, ready to fight, then slowlyturned as if to run, tottered a few steps and fell on its knees.

  "Well," said Hugh, "I guess, son, you and Joe will have to divide thatbuffalo; 'pears to me from the way those arrows look, that you bothkilled it."

  "Well," said Jack, "the first shot I made, I didn't hit it at all. Iwould not have thought I could shoot at an enormous animal like that, atfive or six yards distance, and miss it, but I did miss it clean. I'mgoing back after we have butchered, to try and find that arrow."

  The buffalo was a young bull, fat and in good order. They took histongue and the meat from the boss ribs, and packing it on Joe's horse,set out for the camp again. On the way back they spent some little timelooking for Jack's arrow, which was finally found, sticking almoststraight up in the sand.